


sthlm sunset

by landofpromise



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Curtain Fic, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:12:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21700927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/landofpromise/pseuds/landofpromise
Summary: “Only 13 more years until retirement,” David jokes. “Or maybe I’ll play until I’m 50.”or; david pastrnak's summer.
Relationships: William Nylander/David Pastrnak
Comments: 13
Kudos: 95





	sthlm sunset

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote thsi in the summer, then never published it. lol

When he dials William’s number after the game, he’s not expecting an answer. They’ve got to go anyways, catch the flight back home to Boston. But Willy does pick up. 

“I was waiting for you to call,” Willy says, although his voice is clouded with sleep. His hair is probably stupid right now, and he’s probably got no shirt on. The good stuff. “Congratulations.”

“Heh. Thanks,” David says. “Did you watch?”

“What do you think?”

David doesn’t know. Sometimes it’s a yes, sometimes it’s a no. He doesn’t know what to really think. He lets the silence fill between them instead. 

“Excited?” Willy asks.

“Nervous,” David says. “Optimistic.”

“Too bad I’m all the way in Europe,” Willy says. “I could’ve like, sucked your dick or something as a congratulation.”

David chokes on the sip of water he took as Willy was speaking. “Jeez. Okay.” 

Willy hums.

“Okay, when I come back, though, you can give me four,” David says.

“Four?”

“For each round, I win,” David can’t help but grin. 

“Just four? For the whole summer?” Willy wheezes. “I hope I’ll at least get more.”

“No,” David whines. “It didn’t come out right.”

“Yeah,” Willy laughs.

“You’re so mean,” David says. 

He means to say something else, when someone knocks hard on his door, presumably Jake, telling him to hurry the fuck up so they can get the party started. He doesn’t have much to pack, but he did ruin his suitcase looking for a specific pair of slacks, so he just gets Willy to recount his day to him. 

“You’re tearing up worlds, huh?” David says.

“Yeah,” Willy says. “Doesn’t matter, though.”

David groans. "What does that even mean."

"The season I had--"

"Babe, listen," David says. "Remember I told you we're going to have a summer to distract you? It starting now."

**one.**

David loves offseason, he does. Sure, a cup final would’ve been ounces better. David can’t believe that they could’ve almost tasted it. 

Right now, David’s just lounging around his house. It’s been about four days, with the lovely sun and beautiful sunsets, he can spend a long time outside. He tried going fishing, but that didn’t really work out, so it’s safe to say that. But he’s home. Sometimes the off-season is real good. 

This summer, he promised it’d just be him and Willy, they can focus on themselves. Last summer had been stressful, to say the least, most of the time, Willy wanted to be on his own so he could handle his contract negotiations, and David tried to be as supportive as possible. They both know it’s hard to deal with that and play hockey at the same time, and David knows that Willy is appreciative of all he tries to do even if sometimes he doesn’t voice that.

David finally calls Willy. 

“I’m coming to Stockholm,” David says when Willy answers. 

“Did you already get a ticket?” Willy asks. He sounds like he’s washing the dishes.

“Yeah,” David says.

“Okay,” Willy says. “I’ll pick you up.”

When David does get to Stockholm, Willy picks him up like normal. They stop for coffee first because David can’t operate without it, and he took the earliest flight to Stockholm. He teases Willy when the cashier asks for Willy’s autograph. 

“Yeah, remember the last time we were in Havírov?” Willy asks, then makes a show of re-enacting the time someone asked Willy to take a picture of her and David. 

“Whatever,” David says as he sips his coffee. The first sip is magical, of course. He finally feels that he can take on the day. “Small town hero and the nation’s princess.”

When they get to Willy’s, David immediately goes to shower. He doesn’t put much thought into it, how he just dropped his luggage in the foyer, put his shoes in the same spot he always does, and immediately headed for the stairs to the linen closet. 

David doesn’t put much thought into the fact that everything looks the same, that David’s towel that he left and never collected. 

He also doesn’t think at all when five minutes into his shower, Willy’s joining him, squeezing a pint of shampoo into David’s hair and massaging his scalp for him. It feels like heaven, he could literally fall asleep, but he’s not sure that Willy would appreciate David learning on him. 

“Your hair is gonna smell like roses, now,” Willy muses. His wet hair is slicked back, he’s frowning while he moves into the conditioner. He kind of looks like an evil villain. It’s cute. 

“That’s okay,” David says. “Almost as sweet as you.”

“Shut up,” Willy says with a goofy grin on his face. “You can rinse again now.”

While David rinses out his hair, it is soft; if he does say so himself, Willy wraps his arms around David’s midsection.

“I missed you so much,” Willy says.

David tries not to sound too desperate when he says, “Me too.” They talked plenty, given the time difference and respective tournaments going on, but it still didn’t feel like enough. 

“I should’ve called you more,” Willy says like he was thinking the same thing. “But you were too busy playing hockey or something.”

“Or something,” David repeats with a laugh. “So were you.”

“Different,” Willy says. 

David supposes so. 

It’s only a matter of time before William’s got him spread out across the bed, right where he wants him after begging and pleading for David to touch him, anywhere, and David grants him this, of course. David finishes unsurprisingly but embarrassingly quick. He hopes that Willy doesn’t mind. David doesn’t think he minds when they burst out into giggles after a moment of stunned silence. Willy definitely doesn’t mind when David puts him in his mouth and finishes him off with his fingers. 

He’s not sure how much longer later, David is dried and slipped into a fresh pair of tracksuit pants while he treads through Willy’s house, barefoot. When he passes by the last room next to the stairs, he notices that there’s no longer a bed in there. But a desk, a couch and a television. David pauses.

“Babe,” David calls out. “What did you do in Mama’s room?”

He doesn’t get an immediate response, until somewhat heavy footsteps get louder and louder, with a dressed but damp Willy appears beside him in the threshold of the room. He looks around the room, just like David does, frowns and says, “This is my guest room.”

“Yeah, but,” David says, shrugging a shoulder. “She sleeps here.”

She won’t care, would gladly stay in a hotel if that’s her only option. It’s useless to pick an argument about, but something about the sight doesn’t feel right to David. 

Willy tilts his head. “Do I need a bigger place?”

David blinks. “Do you want one?”

Willy purses his lips. “Not if I have to live alone.”

“Alex would live with you,” David says. He finally decides the room isn’t as cursed as he initially thought it was and takes a seat on the grey sectional before beckoning Willy to join him. Willy does crawl a bit before he drops his head on David’s thigh. David’s hand finds his hair immediately.

Willy looks downright confused, but somewhat amused at the same time. He has a small smile on his face. “Should I be insulted?”

David is confused, too. “Why?”

“I tell my boyfriend I don’t want to live alone, and he suggests my brother?” Willy says, and he sounds very snotty if David says so himself.

David knows that Willy is probably only looking for one answer. Though he can’t help the spike of nervousness that comes when he asks, “Do you want to live together?” 

“Yes,” Willy says, not even hiding how desperate he sounds. David can’t stop the grin that spreads across his face. 

“I basically live here,” David says absently. “I’m always here.”

“All your friends are here.” Now Willy is smiling. David recognizes that Willy looks a little relieved. David could almost laugh at that. Why on earth would David want otherwise? Willy should know that if there were a way for them to be together while both playing for their respective teams during the NHL season, David would make it possible, he would do anything for his boyfriend.

**two.**

David has been up to absolutely nothing since he’s they’ve moved in since they moved in. David doesn’t remember the last time he was this lazy, and he knows that ‘I’m settling into my new house’ has a time limit. It’s okay, he’s got a hot Swede snoring on his bare chest, and it’s something o’clock in the morning. It’s a little wet this morning from the rain, but David doesn't really mind. He watches the rain from his bed. 

It’s been nice, the house is gorgeous. The neighbourhood is beautiful, although David hasn’t met anyone, nor does he plan to. There are closets in the room, but only one is filled up so far, with no real urgency to unpack anything. 

(He’s sure the urgency will come when it’s time to think about what to do during the regular season, and training camp will only be two weeks ahead.)

The grocery shopping is simple, they don’t eat that much differently, and both have routines to follow.

It’s hard when Willy tells David that he has awful taste in curtains, and David doesn’t understand why that matters when the couches for the living room that Willy listed are not going to match with the flooring.

It’s nice that no one has come to visit. Partially because no one knows really about the house, so it’s only the two of them for now, and David doesn’t have to put on pants, like, ever. It’s even better now that sometimes Willy will walk around in David’s Czech jersey and nothing else. He doesn’t even remember how Willy found this jersey, something along the lines of it being in one of the last boxes they were too lazy to unpack. He swore he packed all his jerseys into one suitcase. Nonetheless, it's a fun time for all.

One morning, of course, David gets the brightest idea as he follows Willy into the bathroom.

“What if I fuck you like this.” David doesn’t pose it much like a question, really, because he has a pretty good guess what the answer is. He hooks a hand around the back of Willy’s thigh and hitches his leg up on the counter. David mutters a curse when he presses in to grind against Willy again. It elicits a lovely sounding moan from Willy.

“You should,” Willy says, and now his voice is strained. David was always good at following orders. He presses Willy to lie with his chest flat onto the surface on the counter next to the sink. David leans forward, too, pushes all of his body weight against Willy and his lips to Willy’s ear.

“Stay like this, Will,” David orders him. The lube is still in the shower, and David grabs it quickly. He doesn’t have to do much prep for Willy, considering David opened him up in the shower until the water ran cold last night, just to see how long he could last. When he gets back to the sink counter, he contemplates dropping to his knees and opening up Willy with his tongue. For next time, he supposes.

He wastes no time pressing two lubed fingers into Willy. It’s not long before he’s scissoring and stretching in between thrusting his fingers in and out. He curls his fingers in. He loves the sounds that Willy makes. 

“Pasta,” Willy whines after a few moments. “Give me more, please.”

“Okay, okay,” David says, adding a third finger. David sucks in a breath when Willy squeezes around him. “You don’t know how hot you look.”

Willy lifts his head from where he was resting his cheek on the counter to make eye contact with David, and fuck if he doesn’t look ruined already. He has a smug grin on his face when he says to David, “Tell me.”

David isn’t one to dirty talk on command. He rarely talks dirty in general, most words in his English vocabulary don’t flow well like they would in Czech, he usually leaves that to Willy, who’s more than happy to fill in the gaps of silence in between David moans and grunts. “Baby,” David starts. “Look at yourself.”

Willy does, and David groans when he looks at Willy in the mirror too. He’s flushed, from the face down from what David can see with the collar of the jersey hanging low. His skin is sweat-slick, and David knows it must be hot as fuck with this on. “You look so good in my jersey, Will. I wish you could see yourself. Fucking yourself back on my fingers. You’re made for this.”

“Y-yeah,” Willy stutters like he doesn’t know what else to say. “Fuck me.”

All the patience that David had seems to be gone now, replaced with pure excitement as he sloppily fumbles with the lube bottle squeezing a little too much onto his cock. Oh well. He strokes himself a few times before lining himself up. 

When he presses in, he doesn’t stop until he bottoms out, and Willy’s breathing is ragged. Fucking William is one of David’s favourite past times. David thinks over the past five (or six? He’s sure Willy will tell anyone six) years of being with Willy, getting to learn the most intimate parts of each other, he prides himself in this part a lot. 

He remembers their first time — not their very first time, that remains unspoken — when they really got their feelings together, the season ahead of their draft year, David didn’t think it could get any better than this. But it has, it really has. 

There’s that night Willy got a hat trick, and David vowed to never buy him dinner again, but of course, he couldn’t just reward Willy for scoring three goals. That was a good night. 

“Shit,” David says when his thoughts are interrupted by Willy attempting to meet his thrusts. Willy’s back is pressed against his chest, and David almost goes on his tiptoes. He finally looks up in the mirror and groans at the sight. He’s got his boyfriend wearing his country’s crest, his jersey pressed up against him to meet his thrusts, and finally, Willy’s cock, neglected and peeking out from the hem of David’s jersey. 

David feels himself getting closer and closer as he grips Willy’s hips tighter to get a faster rhythm.

“Lie down,” David says to Willy. Willy obliges, but David almost knocks his front teeth into the back of Willy’s head when Willy reaches back for one of David’s hands. David can hear the slick noises of Willy jerking himself off and David bats Willy’s hand away to replace it with his own. He knows his grip is tighter, hands a bit rougher, but Willy doesn’t seem to care as he comes no less than half a minute later.

David follows shortly after. 

He’s barely got two seconds to come down before Willy is dragging him into the shower. It’s alright, though. The water from the showerhead is warm on David’s skin. He lets Willy lather him up and shampoo his hair, making a note not to get too tired that he can’t return the favour. When that’s done, and it’s time that they should get out before they prune up, David just crowds Willy back up against the shower wall and kisses him slowly. It’s nice when Willy puts his arms around David’s neck and holds him close.

“You’re so hot,” David mumbles when he pulls away. It’s been on his mind since he got up from the bed.

“I know,” Willy says, and he’s smirking because he does know. He knows what he does to David. His boyfriend is a menace. David doesn’t really mind, though.

After they get dried up, they crawl back into the bed, but not before David orders breakfast from the room service. Willy snuggles up behind him after he hangs up the phone, and David lets out a content sigh. 

“Hey,” David says. “Put your arm around me.”

Willy huffs out a laugh. He does slide an arm around David’s waist. David likes curling up into Willy after sex. He loves when they have the whole day to lie in and not worry about having to put clothes on or go out. It’s romantic. David’s pretty sure.

“Nice,” David says.

“Nice,” Willy echoes him. It is nice.

It’s comfortable and quiet like that for a while, with Willy spooning him. The security of it is something that David won’t ever get over, and it’s pretty darn romantic, he thinks. He almost drifts off to sleep before he remembers his jersey again. He grins possessive. “Want you to wear the jersey all the time. With nothing else.”

“That would be highly inappropriate,” Willy says deadpan. “And probably treason.”

“But it’s so hot,” David says. He has an idea. “Babe—“

Willy interrupts him before he can even form the sentence. “Nope.” Says Willy. “You’re definitely not getting a picture of me naked.”

“You won’t be,” David protests, because even though he hasn’t thought it that far though, it’s a good idea.

“You’re an idiot,” Willy says. “Do you want to watch Netflix?”

“Yeah,” David says, giving up. He will definitely be bringing that up again later. “Put on something with lots of fighting.”

Willy snorts. “Oh, yeah, a good way to start off the morning.”

“It’ll wake me up,” David says.

“You’ll get nightmares,” Willy says, and David already has the sensation of deja-vu, an all too familiar argument about David’s lack of ability to not be able to watch scary or violent things on TV. David smiles nonetheless as he hears Willy turning on the tv and hopefully scouring through the action movies section. 

**three.**

Most of David’s appeal comes from being an athlete, he’s sure. He knows he’s got a nice body, especially in the summer, where the only thing he’s doing is training for the next season. He also has a tattoo sleeve, and really, he doesn’t get the hype. But he enjoys the attention, when he’s out in Boston, and people come up to him, it’s helpful for his ego even if he isn’t interested one bit. 

He’s trying to sunbathe, he really is. But he’s distracted by Willy sunbathing. He looks really good, and all David can do is stare. He can touch if he really wanted to, but he refrains. 

“Stop looking at me,” Willy mumbles with his eyes closed. 

“I can’t,” David says as he pulls down his sunglasses. It’s evening, nearing sunset, but the sun is still glaring in David’s eyes. The breeze is a nice and cool contrast from when they usually head to the beach around midday. There are not many people here, mostly couples and small groups of friends. As much as David adores children, it’s also convenient that there’s no screaming nearby. 

“You’re weird,” Willy rolls his eyes.

“Have you seen yourself?” David asks.

“Have you seen yourself,” Willy counters. 

“You have a prettier smile,” David says just for argument’s sake. 

An hour later, when they’re packed up to go back home, Willy makes David go fetch him another drink from the beach bar before they go. David does, of course, because he’s a good boyfriend. He’s chatting with the bartender, who’s studying abroad here, working for the time being. The girl’s pretty funny doesn’t believe David when David tells her that he plays hockey for a living. David doesn’t mind. There are times where it’s refreshing to talk to someone who knows who he is and sometimes it’s even better to talk to someone who has no idea what he does.

When Willy’s drink is finally made, David’s about to reach for it when Willy, who’s suddenly appeared from the bathrooms, grabs it before his hand can get there. 

“Thanks, baby,” Willy says with a smile, but there’s a sharpness to his tone. “Let’s go.”

David blinks. He says goodbye to the bartender, not even bothering to catch her name even though that was the first question that he asked David. When David finally catches up to Willy's speed walking, he loops his arm with Willy’s free one. 

“You’re out of here in a hurry,” David says.

“That bartender was totally flirting with you,” Willy says. “No shame.”

David almost trips over his own feet. He’s lucky he has Willy to help him maintain his balance. “Really?”

Willy looks disgusted, and in David’s defence, he’s a little less used to girls outside of his hometown and Boston being unabashed about trying to hit on him. But, if David could rewind the last ten seconds of his life, he certainly would. 

“Don’t look so excited,” Willy says snottily. 

“Well, I just--” David says but changes his mind before he can finish his original thought. He should probably try to change the subject. “You should be proud.” 

“Oh?” Willy looks somewhat intrigued, but his resolve doesn’t crack.

“You have such a hot boyfriend,” David says, grinning. 

“That’s exactly why I’m annoyed,” Willy says. “Can’t do anything about it.”

He’s downed his drink already while they were walking to the car, so David takes it and discards it in the nearest trash bin while Willy loads his car. When he gets to the car, he watches as Willy watches the convertible hood retract while shaking his head.

“What?” David asks, even though he knows what Willy is going to say next. 

“You’re so obnoxious,” Willy says, gesturing toward the car. 

“You love it,” David says while getting into the driver’s seat. 

David wants to ask what it was about today that set Willy off. It’s not entirely out of character, but the pet name is, and David’s just curious about that. Maybe it’s more the bitterness that Willy can’t outright claim David no matter how much they believe no one knows who they are. 

David waits until three of Willy’s favourite songs have played on his playlist before he finally asks, “What happened today?”

“What do you mean?” Willy asks, although the way he stiffened at David’s question implied that he knew what David was talking about.

“With the girl?” David keeps his eyes on the road.

He’s expecting something, like a dumb excuse about how he was coming on too strong when they both know that isn’t true. David will let him lie regardless because if he knows anyone to not pressure him into spilling out his feelings when he isn’t ready, it’s Willy.

“It’s not fair, you know?” Willy says.

“Being gay,” David says in understanding. There are a lot more layers to it than that, and they’ve spent hours on this topic. 

“Yeah,” Willy says, shrugging.

“I can’t just say, ‘I have a boyfriend’ to someone,” David agrees. “It sucks.”

“I can’t hold your hand,” Willy says. “Unless we rented a remote place by a lake or something elaborate.”

“Only 13 more years until retirement,” David jokes. “Or maybe I’ll play until I’m 50.”

“Oh yeah?” Willy asks, with a look on his face. “You think we’re still gonna be dating?”

“Who else wants you,” David teases but goes back to being serious. “You are going to be my last.”

Willy looks at him. “Oh?”

“Yup,” David says, popping the p. He puts his key in the ignition and starts his car. 

“Okay.” Is the only response that David gets from Willy.

The joke isn’t necessarily flat, but there’s something underneath all of it that makes David feel uneasy about it. Sometimes, joking about it doesn’t make him feel better about the situation he’s in. At times it makes him feel worse. 

**four.**

David is definitely a mama’s boy, and he doesn’t mind. He thinks he would do anything for his mother and would never once complain about it. He’s grateful for her. But, David believes that Willy is an even better family person. Willy is good with his mom. Like. Really good. Better son to his mother than David could ever try to be. They don’t even speak the same language. 

Like right now, his mom just made dinner for the three of them, Willy helped, and now he’s helping with the dishes. David nurses a beer as he watches the two of them in their kitchen. They’re both silent, save for small laughing after bumping into each other or smiles when they catch each other’s eyes.

Earlier before that, they were watching some Czech romance drama, and Willy genuinely seemed interested in it, with the help of David because he couldn’t find subtitles. The thing is, sure his mom’s got people in their town to talk to and to see, but he knows sometimes she gets lonely in a big house. It’s nice to spend time with her and having Willy there is a bonus. 

When David goes back into the kitchen to retrieve another beer, his mother smiles at him.

“David, he’s good,” she says while looking at Willy. “My good son.”

“Ma,” David says weakly. His chest feels tighter than usual. He blames it on the summer heat. When David looks at Willy, he’s peering curiously at David.

“She said you’re a good son,” David says when he manages to find the words.

“Oh,” Willy says after a moment. There’s a faint blush on his cheeks. “Thank you.” He says that in practiced Czech, from having to run to the store when David was still asleep well past 1p.m., David is moving across the room and pulling Willy by the waist to kiss him. Willy’s smiling when he pulls away. So is his mother, who doesn’t even chastise him about having no manners while his mother is around.

And you can’t blame David when later that night, when David’s mom is asleep in the guesthouse, David drags Willy to his room and pushes him up against his bedroom door before sliding to his knees and pulling at the waistband of Willy’s track pants. Willy looks down at him curiously, and David looks back, certain. 

“Yeah?” Willy asks, curling his fingers in David’s hair. 

“Yeah, William, let me suck you,” David says. He’s never been one for formalities. He pulls down Willy’s boxers, too. David licks his palm and doesn’t waste time coaxing Willy to full hardness with a tight fist. Willy groans and his fingers clench loosely in David’s hair. When Willy’s fully hard, David takes him in his mouth. 

David will never tell anyone this, how much he loves sucking Willy off. He doesn’t need to tell Willy, he knows with the way David has told him exactly how to pull on his hair and the multiple times David has come untouched from this. With a hand at the base of Willy’s dick, he sucks him slowly. It feels so good when Willy’s fingers tug hard enough to hurt after David takes him all in. He only manages to choke a little, pulling back to cough a little and blushing when Willy looks down at him with soft eyes and an even more delicate smile. He’s so weird. It’s Willy making choking noises now when David swallows him down again. 

“I’m close,” Willy says, his fingers flexing in David’s hair like he’s unsure of what to do with them. David just continues with his pace for a little bit until he pulls off completely and decides he’s changed his mind about what he wanted out of this. He watches Willy’s eyes widen as he processes what’s happening, bites his lip when Willy makes a hurt noise, and David smiles when the first spurt of come lands on his lips. The rest catch his cheeks mostly. 

After a moment of Willy catching his breath and David just watching him, he finally tucks himself back into his pants. He’s smiling down at David dumbly and hazed, eyes half-open, like he always does when he gets head.

David says, “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

He’s only had one, ever in his life, but still. 

Willy barks out a laugh. “Shouldn’t that be my line, tonight?” 

“I give you blow jobs all the time,” David squints. “You being my mom’s favourite son? Different.”

Willy blushes this time. “You want to reward me for being a good son-in-law?”

“I like that word even better,” David says.

**five.**

“Kappy’s coming out tonight,” Willy says as he bumps David’s hip on his way out of the bathroom. David almost drops his gel container into the sink. He manages to handle his grip on it before it falls, though. So it’s gonna be a big crowd tonight. David and Willy’s mutual friends invited them out for a night of drinking, to which they both eagerly accepted. 

Kasperi Kapanen, Willy’s literal best friend, is also in Sweden, to see Willy. David and Kapanen — well, they get along as much as two introverts who both want the best for Willy can get along. He doesn’t actually dislike the guy, he just has no interest in getting to know him more than he already does. It’s not necessarily Kapanen’s fault if it’s hard to shake off Pastrnak, the Opponent, and it sure as hell isn't David’s fault that he can’t shake off that aspect of Kapanen, too. 

“He bringing his girl?” David asks. 

“I’m sure she’d rather go out than stay holed up in a hotel, yeah,” Willy sounds far away now like he’s in his closet. 

“How’d he get that?” David wonders aloud. 

“I think people ask the same question about you.” Willy’s suddenly back in the bathroom, seeming to have found the shirt he wants to wear -- it shows off his arms nicely, sliding an arm around David’s waist. 

David tuts. “Don’t be rude.”

Willy giggles. “Hurry up,” he says. “We’re gonna be late.”

Later that night, there’s about ten of them shoved into a booth, and David’s drinking his third beer. Willy is nowhere to be found, but David is sure he’ll turn up sooner than later. David watches as Kapanen’s girl makes her way to the bar, then he turns his attention to where he finally spots Willy dancing with a stranger, but he’s drunk enough that he doesn’t seem to care, keeping a safe distance between them nonetheless. David snorts.

He likes seeing Willy let go and have fun. This mostly gets to happen during the summer when he doesn’t have to worry about alarms or cameras. After about three songs, Willy seems to decide that he’s done dancing and walks over to the bartender. That’s when David feels someone bump shoulders with him. When he looks, it’s Kapanen, who’s sporting a shit-eating grin. 

“Hey,” David greets awkwardly. 

“How’s your night going, Pasta?”

David shrugs. “Music’s okay. Should’ve gone with the place Willy chose. What about you?”

“Good, but you’re right about this place,” Kapanen says. “But Stockholm has been nice.”

“It’s a nice city,” David says lamely. “Sweden is nice.”

“You and Willy spend most of your summers here,” Kapanen shrugs. “You’re basically married already.”

David swallows. “We’re not married.”

“That’s why I said basically,” Kapanen says, raising a brow. “I’m just saying.”

David doesn’t respond. It wouldn’t actually be that big of a deal to stay here in the summer full-time. It’s true, he does spend most of his summers in Sweden. That’s only because he’s made many friends while playing in the Swedish league. Granted, about ninety-nine percent of his friends from Sweden are also friends with Willy, too, but still.

“Willy wants to,” Kapanen says after David thought he was finally safe from this conversation again.

“Willy wants me to live in Sweden?” David asks because he doesn’t know what he’s gonna do if Kapanen tells him it’s something else. He already has a ring, you see, one that he bought two years ago on a whim. He’s practiced what to say and when to say it, he’s hoping that when he does propose, it’ll be on his day with the Cup and it’s all nice and stuff. 

“He wants more than that,” Kapanen says. 

“Does he really,” David asks. He doesn’t bother to look at Kapanen, doesn’t want to see the look on his face. He’s not sure how much weight he should give this, Kapanen’s drunk and most of the time full of shit, but if Willy feels even half of how David feels about him, he’s pretty sure that Willy wants this too. He doesn’t wait for Kapanen’s response before he’s gliding across the dancefloor to the bar, where Willy has his elbows propped up on the bar for support and is slowly sipping on ice water and humming along to the song that’s blasting. 

David will get chewed out tomorrow morning, maybe if Willy remembers this, him sliding behind him and wrapping a firm arm around his waist. David nuzzles into Willy’s neck. Willy just giggles in response. 

“Well, look who finally decided to get up,” Willy says. 

“Music here sucks,” David says, voice muffled. 

“You need more shots,” Willy says as if that is definitely the reason why the music is terrible. Willy’s already hailing the bartender over for two more shots before David can even try to protest. David could end his night right here, but he’s also not about to turn down his boyfriend offering him a drink. He and Willy both down the shot before making their way back to the booth. It’s a tight fit in there, it is, and David just pulls Willy onto his lap instead of asking everyone to move to their right. He's already giving the finger in the direction to whoever is coughing obnoxiously. Willy squirms a bit before sighing and looking back at David with an exasperated expression. 

“Comfortable?” Willy asks, leaning his back into David’s chest.

“Oh, yeah,” David says, smirking. “Very nice thighs, William.”

“Thanks,” Willy says dryly. 

David rests his chin on Willy’s shoulder. It’s nearing two in the morning, and David wants nothing more than to take Willy home, so they can sleep.

“You would look good with my last name,” David says, and he feels Willy freeze.

“Shut up,” Willy says breathily, in a way he does when he’s embarrassed about voicing his wants. David’s officially got his answer now, though, that Willy has thought about this as much as he has. He wonders if Willy really told Kappy that he wants all this or if it’s just written all over Willy’s face, and David is just too blind to see it.

“I’m serious,” David says. “What do you say?”

It’s a moment before Willy answers. David almost considers telling him he was just joking, but the thing is, he wasn’t really kidding. He desperately wants Willy to say yes. He knows this isn’t a real proposal, and he’s tipsy, and they’re in front of friends, and it makes no sense that Willy would say yes even if he wanted to, but now David wants to know Willy’s answer.

“You’re full of shit,” Willy says finally. David isn’t disappointed, that’s answer enough, really, he’ll get his real answer hopefully by next June.

David chuckles lightly. “I love you.”

“I know,” Willy says, patting David’s knee. “I know.”

**six.**

It’s a week later, and David has forgotten what he said to Willy at the club, which means that Willy should have, too. They’re sitting in bed on a Saturday evening for the first time in a while. David has beaten a distracted William three times in a row at UNO this evening, and Willy keeps checking the time.

“Got somewhere to be?” David asks sweetly.

“No,” Willy shakes his head. “Can I tell you something?”

David straightens his back. He’s not sure what’s coming, but being slouched against the headboard feels like a somewhat vulnerable position. “You can tell me anything.”

“I’m thinking…” Willy starts then stops. David can’t help that he leans closer.

“Thinking…?” 

“I want to change my number to 88,” Willy finishes in one breath.

“Oh, that’s—that’ll be good,” David says. They can share. Of course, they can. “I know you missed it.”

“I asked the team about it, but nothing’s official, you know,” Willy explains. 

“I like it,” David says, winking. “I know a handsome guy who wears that, too.”

“Let me know when you find him,” William teases him, and David gasps theatrically and then pinches Willy’s exposed side for good measure. 

“Take that back.”

“It’s for us,” William says honestly, and then a little softer. “If you want it to be.”

David’s heart stops. He doesn’t really know what to say. When he got the number, it was because it was a familiar number to him, because it was simple, and he thought it would make Willy curious in the most hilarious way. Something about this, though, feels different. A lot different.

“We’re gonna both be 88?” David asks.

“Yeah, if you want,” William repeats himself. Of course, I want, David thinks. 

“Like… forever?” David asks.

Willy widens his eyes. “Yes, exactly. Forever.”

“Because that’s how long we gonna be together,” David concludes. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

“Yeah,” Willy’s face is split into a smile now, and David almost wants to laugh at how silly Willy is to think that he wouldn’t want just this. David does roll his eyes, though. 

“That’s how you propose to me?” David frowns.

“You took the words out of my mouth,” Willy says.

“Only because you’re making such a huge deal,” David shrugs. “I’ll let it slide.”

“I think this is better than a ring,” Willy quips. “Also, something that only has significance to us.”

“Good thing I didn’t propose yet,” David says absently. “This is so much more romantic.”

There are a few seconds of silence where it looks like Willy’s trying to process what David just said. At the same time, David comes to the realization that he’s spoken his deepest thoughts aloud, and then another few seconds of Willy grinning at David somewhat malfunctioning. 

“Baby,” Willy says softly. “You’re gonna propose?”

David whines. “Yeah.”

“With a ring and everything?” Willy asks. He leans over to give David a quick peck on the lips and smiles when David moves his palm from his face, looking at Willy for more. Willy only laughs a little, before obliging and kissing David open-mouthed.

“Was supposed to like, win the cup,” David sounds sad when Willy pulls away. Willy would laugh if he didn't feel like his heart was in his throat.

“And what if I won the cup?” Willy asks. David can’t believe they’re talking about this. They never have. David always hears about teammates' awkward conversations about futures and all, but David never got that. He didn’t even know Willy ever thought about it, he knows they love each other and don’t see each other being with anybody else but for some reason.

“That too,” David says, but he’s grimacing this time. He’s a sore loser. 

Willy snorts. “Big baby.”

“Your baby,” David smiles sweetly up at Willy.

“I guess it’s your turn now,” Willy says.

“My turn?” David asks weakly, although he knows where this is going. 

“I can’t be the only one,” Willy says like that explains it. It kind of does, and David softens. Willy hates doing anything alone, and of course, this would be something he’d consider that needed to be done with the help of his boyfriend.

“Fine, fine,” David smiles. “Don’t be mad because my proposal is going to be much better.”

Willy scoffs but doesn’t say much else, instead shoos David away from the bed.

David springs out of bed, almost taking the duvet and sheets with him. Willy grins to himself as he makes himself comfortable, lying back against the pillows in the middle of the bed. This is the dumbest proposal David has ever been a part of.

“Oh, God,” Willy says from where he’s still at the edge of the bed. David’s about to ask what’s wrong when he barrels on. 

“I’ll have to tell my parents I’m getting married,” Willy says. 

“Yeah,” David says. That’s how it works, he’s pretty sure.

“I’m going to have to tell my brother. And then my sisters,” Willy sounds like he absolutely does not want to do that. “And they’re all going to want to meddle in the plans and talk to you about it.”

“That’s why we’ll have a wedding planner,” David says nonchalantly. It should be simple. He’s never actually seen any of his teammates stress out over a wedding.

“No, you don’t understand my family,” Willy’s saying when David comes to the bed. He has a small black velvet box in his left hand, and he’s biting his bottom lip nervously. He’s going to take a seat on the edge of the bed when Willy shoves his naked ass to the floor.

“What the fuck?”

“Propose!” Willy orders.

David gives Willy a look that he hopes is telling him that he’s ridiculous before laughing. He positions himself until he’s on one knee and clears his throat. “Right. Okay, William, you know I love you.”

Willy nods.

“Well, I can't think of life without you, and there’s no one else I’d rather face wash during and then cuddle after,” David says, and Willy rolls his eyes. “My mom loves you more than me. I’m not even mad. My dad—you guys, would be best friends, I bet. What I’m saying is—we’re already married. Let’s make it official?”

“Yes, you ass,” Willy says and then makes grabby hands at David. “Give me the ring.”

“Just— hold out your hand,” David says, opening the box. The ring is — well. It’s fucking beautiful. Willy whistles at it, and David snorts. He slides the ring on Willy’s ring finger, and Willy almost tears up. He knows David will at some point, which means he will, too, but not yet.

“Pasta, we’re getting married,” Willy says dreamily as he lays back against the pillows, not once taking his eyes off the ring. It’s really fucking cute. The size needs to be adjusted, but Willy will keep it on, for now, he tells David. Willy starts going on about how David is going to need a ring, too, because that’s how they’re going to do this. David hums in agreement, although he’s not really listening, more paying attention to the way the ring on Willy’s fourth finger looks when he runs his digits through his blond hair. David really cannot believe he didn’t ask this man to be married to him sooner. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! :)
> 
> comments are appreciated.
> 
> twt:[@land0fpromise](http://twitter.com/land0fpromise)


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